Second tier set for an different look with Hibs looking doomed to relegation
after winning just one of their last 19 games

The possibility of three of Scotland’s biggest clubs playing in the second tier of the SPFL next season is now a live issue as Hibernian face a dangerous play-off against either Falkirk or Hamilton Accies.

Rangers and Hearts will contest the Championship next season but Hibs – with only one victory in 19 games – must now endure a two-legged ordeal, one game of which will be played on artificial turf no matter who their opponents are.

That outcome was guaranteed when Kris Boyd struck his 22nd goal of the season for Kilmarnock just before half-time at Easter Road on Saturday.

The stadium has become a manager’s graveyard – Terry Butcher is the seventh to take charge in the last 10 years – and the former England captain was a target for angry fans who demonstrated outside the main entrance for more than an hour after enduring yet another dismal afternoon.

The cause of Hibs’ seemingly unstoppable collapse is brutally obvious. They have the best defensive record in the bottom half of the table – even second-placed Motherwell conceded more league goals this season – but nobody has scored fewer than Butcher’s players, whose total for the campaign is 31 goals, and who rarely looked likely to supplement that against Kilmarnock, although a Liam Craig shot did strike the crossbar.

To put this in perspective, Leigh Griffiths, who was on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers last season, scored 28 goals and kept the club in the top flight last season. The failure to identify a replacement who could contribute even half of that tally has been ruinous.

Kilmarnock will confront the same problem when Boyd leaves – as he almost certainly will during the summer – but for the moment they can bask in the balmy sensation of relief at being spared a duel for survival in the Scottish Premiership.

Butcher suggested on Friday that he might try to rouse his troops with a certain famous speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V but, in the event, it was Alan Johnston who could say “Once more unto the beach!” to the exultant Killie players.

There will be no thought of holidays amongst the Easter Road contingent, although they now have more than a week of inactivity until they engage in the first leg of the play-off.

Rod Petrie, the chairman, has promised change and Leeann Dempster, recruited from Motherwell as chief executive officer, will take over the day-to-day running of the club, but the scale of reconstruction will depend entirely upon the outcome of the play-off.

Invited to discuss their plunge into peril, the painful simplicities of the situation have forced the Hibs players into condensed verdicts. Scott Robertson, whose powerful early shot forced a crucial save from Craig Samson, was the latest to try to offer an account of woe.

“They had one cross into the box and one goal, an absolute sucker punch just before half-time,” the midfielder said. “It does not seem to be a coincidence because it’s happened week on week for the last so many weeks.

“It’s just mistakes – it’s us as professionals not being good enough. We’re not stopping teams scoring and we’re not scoring. I include myself in that. I had at least once chance that I should have scored and I didn’t.

"I had one cleared off the line and another deflected. I’ve not scored, Liam hit the bar, we’ve not done enough as a team to stop other teams picking up points – yet we were 7th going into the split.

“I wanted to play the play-off right after the final whistle. I’m desperate to get it out of the way. I was so looking forward to Saturday’s game and I was so excited about it. It will be the same going into the play-off. There is a lot riding on it, a bit like the Killie game. Everybody is devastated with the fact we’re in this position but we have to pick ourselves up and get that positivity.”

Robertson also acknowledged that the size or perceived status of the club has no bearing on current misfortune. “You can say that about any club that should be doing really well. Aberdeen were struggling last season and were in the bottom six and look at them now – it’s miraculous the change in one season.”

Asked to sum up the season, Robertson was pithy. “Still hope,” he said.